The Supreme Court-appointed empowered committee on Mullaperiyar dam has concluded that the controversial reservoir is hydrologically, structurally and seismically “safe”.
Allaying Kerala’s fear of the dam being unsafe, the committee’s report (a copy is with this newspaper) has asked the state to “reconsider” its proposal to decommission the existing structure and to construct a new one.
“The recent earthquake activity in the dam area is considered of no consequence to the seismic safety. It has caused no distress to Mullaperiyar and Idukki dams,” the report stated. The committee, which carried out several tests and investigations through various agencies, has also said that the water level of the existing reservoir could be safely raised from 136 feet to 142 feet as sought by the Tamil Nadu government, however, issuing direction to carry out the requisite maintenance and repair measures of the existing dam in a time-bound manner.